4 June 2016

You get a hang of a social networking site and a new one emerges promising to be the next big thing. For me social networking started when I was in school. I used orkut then shifted to facebook and twitter. Twitter is probably the best thing that happened to me and I thought twitter was enough to keep me interested for the rest of my life. I was wrong instagram came crashing in and like most other bloggers out there I decided to give it a try and boy did I like it. I actually loved it!

Few interesting facts about Instagram

Instagram is app only, you cant do much with its web version

Instagram has over 400 million monthly users which is more than that of twitter

More than 30 billion photos have been shared on instagram

In 2012 Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion

#NoFilter is the most popular hashtag on insta

Instagram is a networking site for youth. Majority of users are under 30 years of age and if your targetted blog readers are above this age group you cant get much out of here

Fashion, food, travel and lifestyle blogs are best promoted on insta

I have been using instagram (follow me here) for more than 2 years now and I have used in more ways than one. To promote my blog, to play some contests, to shop beauty, to stalk celebrities and to update to the world about my life in pictures.

Here I bring to you some valuable tips to get most out of the photo based networking site.

Get a separate instagram account for your blog

Unless you are a personal blogger you should definitely consider having a separate instagram account for your blog. Choose your username and profile photo carefully and dont change it. This makes it recognizable among your followers

Post High quality images

Instagram is all about photos so make sure you post photos which are attractive and of good quality making users actually hit the follow button. Post creative images of upcoming reviews, what products just arrived, behind the scenes story or what you shopped. You can also Publish photos from your latest blogposts and tell your followers a new post is u on blog.

Make hashtags your best friend

Twitter introduced the whole hashtag trend but it has equal importance even in instagram. You posts can get lost in a sea of images but intelligent hashtagging means you post will still be discovered by many. I always include 3-6 relevant and popular hashtags on my instagram posts, you can add more but make sure you dont clutter your post too much. I include some very popular tags like #beauty or #Fashion, some tags specific to my post like #flipkartshopping and then a unique one like #velvetbytes or #blingsparkle.

Post photos with text overlay

If you really want to say something to your followers say it with creative text overlay photos. You can post your blog genre related quotes or announce giveaways beautifully this way. To make this happen you can use simple apps on mobile like piclab

Write a nice quirky bio

A nice short bio makes your potential subscribers follow you in an instant. You can include your email Id also here to help brands or reader contact you easily. Unlike your profile photo and username, changes in bio are okay, so go ahead change it everytime you have a giveaway or have something specific to say

Link to your website

Instagram doesnt allow clickable link except in the bio, use this option to drive traffic to your website. You can change this link everytime you have a new post up like we do at Blingsparkle. After a post is published, visit your blog from mobile phone, download a photo from the latest blog post on your mobile and upload the same photo on instagram, telling all a new post is up and a clickable link is in bio.

Use the Geo Tag feature

Instagram has a geo tag feature which lets you add location to your photos. Use this feature when you post photos live from blogger events or your vacations.

Link instagram to facebook and twitter

Instagram ofers an option to link your other social profiles which makes it easy to post a photo on all three platforms. This helps save a lot of time and I suggest all bloggers link their facebook and twitter to instagram

Connect with Brands you love

Almost all brands have an instagram page these days and it is always good to connect with brands you love. Follow them, like their photos and leave comments. When you post photos which feature products from brands you love tag them in it. Doing this also increases your chances of brands noticing you and this can result in future collaborations.